NorthamAn interesting and important early wheatbelt
settlement.
Northam is located 150 m above sea level and 98 km east of Perth on
the Great Eastern Highway and, like York, is one of the earliest
settlements in the Central Wheatbelt area.

The town, with its beautiful setting and its population of
nearly 7000, is remarkably attractive although it has a reputation
for fiercely hot summers. As early as the 1850s the Anglican
archdeacon of Western Australia was writing about how he 'rode to
Northam in the evening through an atmosphere which felt like that
at the mouth of an oven. Horses sweating copiously even at walking
pace.'

The area around Northam was first explored in 1830 when a party
of colonists led by Ensign Robert Dale travelled across the
mountains from Perth and discovered the rich and beautiful Avon
Valley. The townsite, on the banks of the Avon, was surveyed in
1830 and the town was gazetted in 1833. It was named by Governor
Stirling, probably after a village of the same name in Devon,
England. At the time its importance was based on its proximity to
the river and its location as a crossing point. Almost immediately
it became a point of departure for explorers and settlers who were
interested in the lands which lay to the east.

This initial importance declined somewhat with the growing
importance of other towns such as York and Beverley but, with the
arrival of the railway, Northam became the major departure point
for the fossickers and miners who headed east towards the
goldfields.

In the twentieth century the town has had more than its fair
share of scandals. In 1915 Captain Hugo Throssell, the first
Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross, arrived home to a
hero's welcome only to inform the adoring locals that he had become
a deeply committed socialist. In her novel Child of the Hurricane
his wife, Katherine Susannah Prichard, describes the scene: 'On
that dark night, speaking in the street to the crowd which had
assembled, [he] described with deep feeling the horror and misery
of war, and his sorrow that so many fine men (some of whom had been
boys with him in Northam) would not be coming home to their wives
and families. It was a dramatic moment when he announced that as a
result of the suffering he had seen, 'the war has made me a
socialist'.'

Another of Northam's scandals occurred in 1933 when the town's
entire Aboriginal population 'were rounded up by police and dumped
in the Moore River Settlement. The Northam Shire Council said they
had scabies and were a health risk.' The quotation comes from Jack
Davis' play Kullark which dramatises this appallingly racist
act.

Things to see:

The Avon River
One of the town's truly great attractions is the Avon River. It
winds its way through the town and on each side it has attractive
parks and walkways. The river is home to the unusual white swans
(this mightn't sound very important but in a state where the emblem
is a black swan a white one is quite a novelty). They were brought
to Northam from England around the turn of the century and have
thrived on the river ever since.

The notice beside the river says: 'The unique white swans of
Northam. The white swan was introduced to Northam in the 1900s.
Strangely the Avon River in Northam is the only place in Australia
where these large birds have found a natural breeding ground. The
swans are cared for by local volunteer wardens. Feeding takes place
each morning at 6.30 a.m. on Broome Terrace next to Newcastle
Street Bridge. At present there are about 80 of these birds on the
river. The swans are a protected species.'

Another attraction on the Avon is the Suspension Bridge which
crosses the river near the Fitzgerald Street Bridge. The locals
proudly claim that their suspension bridge is the longest
pedestrian suspension bridge in Australia.

Northam Heritage Trail
There is an excellent and very detailed Northam/Katrine Heritage
Trail booklet which includes three trails: a 2 km town walk which
includes the Post Office, Town Hall, Clearview House, St John's
Church, the Northam Club and Shamrock Hotel; a 4 km town drive
which includes the Flour Mill, West Northam Station Museum, St
James Anglican Church, the Club Tavern, Byfield House and Mitchell
House; and a 16 km drive along the banks of the river to Katrine, a
nearby township which once vied with Northam for importance but
died when it was bypassed by the railway.

Of the many buildings and locations on the Heritage Trail the
most interesting are the Town Hall which was opened by Sir John
Forrest in 1898 and is typical of the Italianate excesses which
afflicted Western Australia in the wake of the gold discoveries, St
John's Church in Wellington Street which was built between 1885 and
1890 and severely cracked in the 1968 earthquake and the Old
Railway Station Museum (Fitzgerald Street  open Sunday
10.00-4.00) which was completed in 1884 and is now used as a local
folk museum combining local artifacts with interesting pieces of
railway history including an old steam engine (PMR 721) and
carriages.

Mitchell House, on the corner of Hawes and Duke streets, is
another Italianate mansion. Built in 1905 for Sir James Mitchell,
who was the local member of Parliament from 1905 to 1933, it is a
sumptuous house set in beautiful gardens. It is of interest that
Mitchell eventually lost the seat to Bert Hawke, the uncle of RJL
Hawke.

On Cemetery Road heading north out of town is Morby Cottage
which was built out of mud brick and hessian sacking in 1836. It is
the oldest building in the area and was built by John Morrell, the
first settler in the district. In fact Morrell was also the first
person to import livestock into the district and the first person
to send produce to Perth from Northam. The cottage is currently run
by the town council. It is open on Sundays from 10.304.00.
For further details contact (08) 9622 1372. There is an excellent
pamphlet on John Morrell, a truly remarkable man who did not leave
his native England until 1830 when he was fifty years old.

Heading north on the Katrine and Irishtown Roads the traveller
passes the huge Buckland homestead which was built in 1874 and is
regarded by many as the most majestic home in the state. It
certainly is a marvellous example of stately Victorian
architecture. It now houses valuable collections of art and
antiques. It is surrounded by huge gardens and is open most days
from 10.00-5.00. For details contact (08) 9622 1130